Price of farm reform (Telegraph Online)

Telegraph Online published an article writing that the prime minister, Narendra Modi, believes that the three bills on agricultural reform are essential for doubling farmers’ income by 2022. Some industrialists have compared the legislations with the liberalization of the Indian economy. However, any endorsement of liberalization must be accompanied by unbiased reflections on the cost of such ‘reforms.” Indonesia was the first country in South Asia to experiment with liberalization in 1968. Other East Asian countries followed suit. World Bank and IFPRI point to evidence of enhanced trade liberalization accompanied by a fall in agricultural support leading to a decrease in capacity — cotton being one example. This, in turn, led to heightened poverty because the rise in production was followed by a fall in prices.